I stop walking. I’m not sure when I gave up hope that Sebastian might be able to rescue her. So typical of me. “Really?”
His expression is grim. “The king is cunning. He wouldn’t have taken your sister if he didn’t believe she was valuable, so he won’t give her up easily. Though I feel like we’re closer than we’ve been before, until Jas is home safe and under my protection, everything can change in a heartbeat. He’s too powerful.”
The king is powerful. I’ve seen it for myself. Whereas I’ve never seen Finn use his powers. Is Finn’s magic suppressed somehow because he’s not on the throne where he belongs? Is that why he didn’t heal after fighting the Wild Fae traitors?
“Do the king’s powers come from the throne?”
Sebastian frowns. “The king’s powers are his own.”
“If another took the throne, would that power transfer to him?”
He shakes his head. “You’re thinking of the crown, but Mordeus hasn’t been able to find it. In fact, he can’t even sit on the throne without the crown, and until he gets the crown, he can’t tap into the power of either.”
The missing crown. Could Finn have powers but choose not to use them? Is he saving them for when he recovers the crown? None of this makes sense to me, and I know I’m missing some vital piece of information.
“Here it is.” Sebastian pushes open the tall wooden doors that lead to the queen’s library. The one I’ve already seen and explored several times.
“I’ve been to this one,” I say, going for breezy. “It really is amazing, but if you’re all about spoiling me tonight, how about taking me to a bigger one?”
He shakes his head and laughs softly. “There isn’t another—bigger or smaller. But if you love books so much, perhaps I’ll have the palace architects construct a new library wing.” His smile wavers, as if he too is thinking of how few days I have left here.
Ignoring the guilt that stabs through me, I take his hand and wander into the library and into the stacks. I said I wanted a book, and since there are thousands in here, he’d be suspicious if I didn’t pick one. Luckily, this little bit of play-acting is easy. I do love books, and I instantly spot half a dozen I can’t wait to dive into.
“May I take a few?” I ask Sebastian, running my fingers across the spines.
“Take as many as you want,” he says, his voice a little rough.
I limit myself to four, but when I turn back to him, he’s staring at me with something like wonder in his eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, smiling.
He swallows. “Before all this, I couldn’t imagine how you could fit in here, but now that you’ve been part of this life, it’s going to be so much harder to let you go.”
I tighten my grip on the stack of books. I can’t imagine a life without Sebastian. In Fairscape, he was the color to my black and white existence. He filled me up when I was empty. When every day seemed to be an endless slog of work, thievery, and failure, I still had seeing him to look forward to. “I don’t want to leave you either,” I admit. I just wish a life with you didn’t have to happen here.
The truth is, I couldn’t stomach a life under the same roof as the queen. I don’t want to be the kind of person who can turn a blind eye to her brand of cruelty, and no matter what I feel for Sebastian, I refuse to let go of that part of who I am.
Sebastian takes the books from my hands and sets them down on a nearby table. When he looks down at me again, his expression is soft, tender. “Close your eyes.”
I look around the library. I hope he doesn’t have some sweet surprise waiting in here for me. My guilt is already near paralyzing. “Why?”
“Just do it.”
I can’t even fake a smile. “Okay.” I close my eyes and sense him bending closer.
“Keep them closed.” He blows a stream of soft air into one ear. I arch my back in pleasure but keep my eyes closed. He blows into the other, and then I hear it—soft at first, then louder. A sweet melody fills my ears—fills the whole room. “Do you hear it?”
“Where is it coming from?” I ask.
“The library pixies. They love books and live among them. If you know how to listen, you can hear them sing.”
Library pixies that live among books and sing. I wonder if I ever could have hated faeries if I’d known such a thing existed.
“Why can’t we hear them with our eyes open?”
“I can hear them fine, but you’re mortal. Your ears aren’t as sensitive as ours.”